Chapter 16
Jenna
“Dr. Williams!” Molly bursts into my office. She waves a brightly colored flyer over her head and her ponytail whips her in the eye, which seems appropriate for the general chaos of her vibe.
“You have to see this,” she breathes out, dropping the flyer flat onto my desk.
I drop my bandaged hand to my lap out of sight, and then scan what’s in front of me.
Student Writing Competition: Winner Receives Publication and Prize
“It’s a campus-wide thing,” Molly explains, still out of breath. “Not just for English majors. There are cash prizes. They’re even publishing winners in the town paper, and that means that I would be a published author.”
“I see…” My eyes stay focused on the flyer, the finer print blurring together, as my hand throbs in my lap. After a few moments pass, I lift my eyes to hers. “I think you should do it. It’s great practice.”
Her hands fidget with the flyer’s edges, thumbs picking the corners apart. “Oh, I want to do it,” she nods, but then hesitates. “But I need your help. My last essay… You were right. It sucked. I don’t want you to do the writing or something… Just… Help ensure it’s cohesive?”
I purse my lips together as I find deadline on the sheet. Two weeks. They want a personal narrative, 2,000 words or less, and the theme is Outside Looking In.
The universe is fucking with me, clearly.
I tug my black cardigan around my body tighter. “Have you started anything?”
Her shoulders hunch, hoodie wrinkling at the neck. “I have ideas. I started an outline, and I’ve jotted down where I think I want to go with it. I know it’s outside of the scope of our usual tutoring, but I would really like it if you would help me.”
“Sure.” I smile at her and brush my hair from my face. “Email it to me tonight. I’ll look it over, and then we’ll shift our tutoring to cover it. Did you finish the Hamlet essay?”
She digs into her bag, and then grins. “Yes.” She hands over the makeup work for the essay she really shouldn’t have failed in the first place. “You’re seriously the best, Dr. Williams. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You have helped me so much.”
I feel my face go cold for a split second, lies freezing my system with guilt, but then I recover.
“You’re a great student, Molly. You learn very quickly, and honestly, I don’t think you’ll need my help much longer.
” And that is the truth, one that I can’t hold back from here. I don’t want to ruin her self-esteem.
And at this point, I’m not even sure how much the tutoring is helping me get close to brother. The biggest barrier wears a black cowboy hat and is stellar at distracting me.
“I really think I can win this.” She lets out a sigh, and then adjusts her backpack over her shoulders. “My life is so freaking weird right now, so it’s a good distraction.”
My heart skips a beat. Maybe I spoke too soon. “Is there anything you’d like to talk about? I know that I’m your professor and tutor, but I’m more than happy to listen to you. Personal life always affects academic life.” I would know. I fucking dropped out of college because of it.
“Actually…” Molly’s voice trails off, and then she plops down in the chair across from me. “It’s like everything.”
“Okay, tell me about it.” My eyes jump to the clock. “I don’t have any more classes for the rest of the day, so I’m all ears.” I clasp my hands in my lap, hoping desperately that I’m not being too pushy. Teenagers are finicky.
She lets out a heavy exhale, and then adjusts her hair. “Well, first of all, I had a flat tire a few nights ago, and when my dad showed up to change it…” Her upper lip curls. “I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t talk about it.” She shakes her head.
“I won’t judge,” my voice softens. “Honestly, I come from a really complicated past. My upbringing wasn’t easy.
I lost my biological dad when I was young, and then my mom remarried a guy who…
” The truth is on the tip of my tongue, but so are the memories.
“He wasn’t the greatest.” I’ll spare her the details of that.
And the fire. And the second fire.
“I’m used to be glad my parents haven’t remarried,” Molly reflects, her focus on herself, thankfully. “But now,” she meets my eyes, “I don’t want them to be alone, and I don’t want them to need me for company.”
“I completely understand.”
“And I think my dad likes you,” Molly blurts out, and then immediately widens her eyes. “He just won’t admit it, and it’s so annoying.”
“Well, maybe your dad just respects boundaries,” I keep the smile on my face and ignore the image of his hand on his cock. “And he does seem like he’s really busy with things.”
“He helps people,” Molly sighs, and her expression is unreadable. “I know that he does that. He doesn’t talk about it, but I’ve watched him—and then I found the files that he keeps on his employees.”
“What do you mean?” I furrow my brow innocently. “Like they just need work?”
She shakes her head. “Their files talk about their mental health, problems…urges.” She pauses. “I think he helps them get their lives together by working on the farm, and I think that’s why he doesn’t want me there when he’s not. Some of them are creepy.”
“Are there creepy ones there now?”
Molly hesitates. “Not really… But… There’s this one guy…” She purses her lips, tapping her index finger on the dimple in her chin. “He’s stressing my dad out a lot. He’s never worked with like more than one guy, but now there’s two. And I saw him the other day… His eyes looked… wild.”
The knot in my throat makes it feel like I can’t swallow, and so I force myself to nod before speaking. “That sounds terrifying.”
She shakes her head. “It was, but he looked so sad. I don’t think my dad saw how sad he was. He just yelled at him, but I don’t understand. I don’t know. I just can’t stop thinking about it. I kind of what to write my essay about that. Well, you know, how everyone sees us differently.”
“I think that’s a great take on the prompt. You’re a deeply empathetic young woman. Hang on to that quality.” Or maybe don’t? Because then you might end up chasing your sibling to the end of the earth, trying to find them.
“Thank you,” she holds my gaze, and then as she opens her mouth to say more, there’s a knock on my office. “I should get going,” Molly jumps to her feet before I can protest.
Damnit. We were getting somewhere.
Molly opens my office door to reveal Ian, who has two cups of coffee in his hands, and then turns back to me. “Thank you for listening. I needed that.”
“Any time,” I say, but she’s already gone, and in steps Ian.
“Got this for ya.” He sets the coffee down on my desk, and I have to bite back my irritation. I have no freaking interest in being this man’s friend.
“Thank you.”
“A bunch of us are getting together Friday for drinks. You wanna go?”
“Ah,” I pick up the coffee, taking a sip. “So, this coffee is really a bribe.” My voice comes out flat and unenthused, but Ian doesn’t seem to notice. Maybe he’s just the disinhibited type.
“It’s totally a bribe.” He takes a seat across from me, crossing one leg over the other. He’s the epitome of a stereotypical lit professor, and I have no idea why the fuck he’s become so friendly with me. “You also look like you need a night out, Jenna. No offense.”
“None taken,” I ignore the bitter taste of the coffee, that does not have enough creamer in it. “I probably could use a night out, but…”
“But I think you’re trying to come up with excuses,” he taps the side of his temple, wiggling his brows. “But you should really just say yes.”
Inwardly, I grimace. “I’ll think about it.” I don’t want to appear to be avoiding going out with coworkers, but also… I’m just the interim professor. I’m not planning to be here forever.
I would go crazy, if I did.
And also, I feel like the clock is running out to find my brother.